American coverage of the Olympics

I was listening to an American journalist on TALKSPORT last night and I felt really sad.

Because NBC, the company who cover the Olympics only do a highlights show in a primetime slot. The journalist was being asked why it wasn't all being shown live, and he responded it's all about ratings. He even said that they even build it up like a soap opera between athletes to get people to watch. Also he said that they only really show Americans winning and the top top events. It made me very sad, that the US are missing out on the whole Olympics, it's almost like they are brainwashed into thinking that it is only another sporting event. Not the greatest sporting event in the world.

Sad.

Funniest thing is America are trailing China in both Gold medals and overall medals this time, looking forward to see how they dress this one up for the home audience!!

They hadn't shown Missy Franklin winning gold yet, and it was a big deal, just before it was being shown (delayed by hours) there was an advertisement with Missy Franklin and her gold medal.

In conversations with my American friends, we've discussed the differences in our national attitude towards sport.

Before I start.... I am not being judgemental here, nor am I stereotyping. I don't include ALL Americans in this, it is simply that certain characteristics become apparent which are widespread in our respective attitudes.

The British (and mostly, Europeans and Australasians in general) think of sport as a noble ideal. We see it as a contest that should be between teams or individuals of approximate equal ability, and be played to a clearly defined set of rules for the purpose of achieving a fair outcome.

By and large, most Americans also adhere to those principles, but in the commercial sphere, this is subsumed by the need to "make sport pay".

The market rules American sport. The media organisations (newspapers, TV, etc) are only interested in the high profile sports where America is seen as the winner and this filters down to the public and infiltrates itself into the psyche of the average American.

Big business sees the Olympics as something to be associated with for financial gain. Significant medal winners are highly sought after for endorsing products and for many American athletes, a gold medal is less a badge of honour than it is a passport to riches.

But as far as business is concerned, it is all about winning. Nobody wants their product endorsed by the guy with a silver medal who may as well not have bothered taking part at all in terms of TV coverage or financial opportunity.

This is not to brand Americans as greedy opportunists, rather, it says much about the values of the system that produces their athletes. Most US athletes come from the collegiate system. The college sports facilities that this system turns out are often sponsored by corporate interests who in turn expect to make a profit from thier investments.

It's a cycle of interest which can reap huge rewards, but has the downside of making American values seem shallow.

I think that greatest of American athletes, such as Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and others who have risen to the very top have a realisation of what they have achieved that goes above and beyond celebrity and wealth. At the grass roots though, this is not always apparent, hence the lack of coverage that a: doesn't involve an American winner and b: involves success by foreigners who cannot be exploited for financial gain.

There is more to it than that, obviously, but I don't want to turn this post into an essay, so I'll stop here and see if this thread develops.


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Olly wrote:I was listening to an American journalist on TALKSPORT last night and I felt really sad.

Because NBC, the company who cover the Olympics only do a highlights show in a primetime slot. The journalist was being asked why it wasn't all being shown live, and he responded it's all about ratings. He even said that they even build it up like a soap opera between athletes to get people to watch. Also he said that they only really show Americans winning and the top top events. It made me very sad, that the US are missing out on the whole Olympics, it's almost like they are brainwashed into thinking that it is only another sporting event. Not the greatest sporting event in the world.

Sad.

oh no the olympics is very much made out as the greatest sporting event in the world- its just TV ratings is more important to them, On the whole the americans are not going to show non usa competitors- so they can dilute the coverage and just show american success

hahahahahaha bet they won't be showing the Omnium highlights!!

In fairness, most american athletes do come across as being humble and honoured to be taking part...my only contact with american sportspeople has been through golf...i found them to be genuinely pleasant, humble sportsmen

To be fair to our American cousins, it would be fairly easy to fill their coverage with USA success.

I think us Brits are a bit more used to limited success, so our media naturally create interest in athletes and teams from other countries. We'd certainly have had a job drawing our 5 Gold's in Seoul & Barcelona and 1 in Atlanta out over the 2 weeks of coverage!